IT was a game the Newcastle Knights let slip through their fingers literally.

Mind you, the Sydney Roosters were similarly culpable and could easily have headed south down the F3 last night empty-handed, rather than with two competition points in their swag.

In conducive conditions dry track, sun shining the 19,253 fans at EnergyAustralia Stadium yesterday were rightfully expecting a fast, open affair.

Instead, both teams suffered an inexplicable dose of the fumbles, producing a tense, rugged contest but little in the way of spectacular entertainment.

There was no lack of effort or intensity from either team. But time and again, for no apparent reason, the pill was coughed up and attacking plays broke down.

The post-match statistics underlined just how tight this affair was. There was nothing in it, from kick-off until the final, frenetic seconds.

Newcastle completed 25 of 40 sets (63 per cent) and the Roosters completed 25 of 39 sets (64 per cent).

The Knights made 275 tackles. The Roosters made 276.

Newcastle won 10 scrums, the visitors 11.

Both teams made only two line breaks.

And, significantly, both teams made an uncharacteristic 16 handling errors.

Knights pivot Chris Bailey had a game he would prefer to forget, losing possession four times. But he had plenty of company teammates Danny Buderus, Ben Cross and Matt Hilder made two errors apiece, while Willie Mason, Mitchell Pearce and Shaun Kenny-Dowall made three transgressions each for the Bondi boys.

For Roosters coach Brad Fittler, there was nonetheless a grim beauty about winning ugly.

"Both sides made plenty of mistakes," Fittler admitted.

"Whether that was the pressure of the game or just a lack of concentration, I thought both sides were equally committed.

"The scoreline most probably showed the true game. It was sloppy, but I found it enjoyable to watch."

Knights coach Brian Smith was trying to remain upbeat at the post-match media briefing.

"I think we competed pretty hard with a very good team a team that's likely to be somewhere at the end of the year," Smith said.

But Smith conceded, "I thought we matched up physically, but we probably didn't show our best performance in terms of catching and passing and finishing off opportunities."

Knights captain Buderus was at a loss to explain the butterfingered display, both from his team and the opposition.

"Dunno," he said.

"A bit frantic, at times, I think. We just tried to play without doing the basics first, like keeping your eye on the ball.

"We wanted to play an up-tempo sort of style, and I know I dropped a couple of balls myself.

"You just can't do that when you're playing good teams."

Appropriately, the arm-wrestle went down to the the final play of the game, when Roosters halfback Pearce grounded a ball in his in-goal fractionally before Newcastle centre Wes Naiqama arrived to force it.

A split-second earlier and Naiqama would have snatched Newcastle's second miracle win against the Roosters this season.

But it was not to be, and Naiqama's near miss underlined the old sporting truism that you make your own luck.

Newcastle, truth be told, cut their own throats.

The Roosters came perilously close to suffering the same fate.